Display system for producing daylight-visible holographic or floating 3d imagery

ABSTRACT

A system for displaying three dimensional (3D) images. The system includes a 3D display operating in a first state to display a 3D image by outputting light into a viewing space and operating in a second state in which the 3D image is not displayed. The system further includes a screen element positioned between the 3D display and the viewing space. The screen element reflects light from the viewing space to appear opaque to a viewer in the viewing space when the 3D display operates in the second state. The screen element transmits the light output by the 3D display, whereby the 3D display image is perceivable by the viewer in the viewing space. The screen element includes a sheet of mesh or netting material that transmits light output by the 3D display through its pores or openings and may be a planar sheet of scrim, tulle, or chiffon.

BACKGROUND 1. Field of the Description

The present description relates, in general, to devices and methods forproviding a three-dimensional (3D) display including, in many cases, ina glasses-free manner. More particularly, the description relates to a3D display system adapted for creating holographic type or floating 3Dimages (left and right eye images) viewable to one or more viewers' eyesoften without the need for the viewer to use special glasses, headgear,or filters (e.g., glasses-free 3D or autostereoscopic) as the viewersare free to move all around the display such that it functions in someembodiments as a 360-degree autostereoscopic display system.

2. Relevant Background

Displays that provide the illusion of three dimensions have experienceda rebirth in the past few years. For example, a number of 3D televisionsare now available for use in homes and home theaters. These 3Dtelevisions generally operate by displaying a stream of left and righteye images in an alternating or time-multiplexed manner (e.g.,left-right-left-right). Switching occurs so quickly that the viewer doesnot sense a flicker or change in the display. The viewer often wearsspecial headgear or glasses that operate in a synchronized manner withthe display to only allow the light associated with the left eye imageto reach the viewer's left eye and with the right eye image to reach theviewer's right eye.

While most commercial displays rely on the use of special glasses (orare stereoscopic displays), it is generally agreed by those in the 3Dentertainment industry that displays able to provide a 3D viewingexperience without glasses or headgear offer significant advantages.Autostereoscopy is any method of displaying stereoscopic images (i.e.,adding binocular perception of 3D depth) without the use of specialglasses or headgear on the part of the viewer. Many autostereoscopic orglasses-free 3D displays have been developed using a variety oftechnologies including lenticular lenses on the display screen combinedwith interlaced content, screens configured as parallax barriers,volumetric displays, and holographic and light field displays. However,each display technology has to date been proven to have limitations thathave limited their widespread adoption.

For example, 3D televisions have been configured as lenticularautostereoscopic displays. The 3D lenticular television is mountedvertically on a wall or on a support base, and a viewer has multipleview images directed toward their eyes through a plurality of lenticules(or elongated lenses) that extend vertically upward or in a slantedmanner upward on the outer surface of the display monitor. The 3Dlenticular television may provide 1920 by 1200 pixels that are used todisplay an 8-view autostereoscopic image through the lenticules (or lensarray or lenticular sheet). To this end, the image content (or digitalimage file) is interdigitated or interlaced as a number of slices (e.g.,8 slices in this example) of images that include multiple view images toprovide the 3D effect, and the set of interlaced slices are displayedand repeated under each lenticule. These 3D televisions have a number ofdrawbacks in practice. For example, the viewer typically has to remainin a particular location relative to the front surface (lenticularsheet) of the display/monitor such as directly in front of thedisplay/monitor and with their head (and left and right eyes) at apredefined height (e.g., a height matching the center of thedisplay/monitor). The lenticular 3D television only provides viewshorizontally so if the viewer is at too great of a height (or too low ofa height) the 3D image is viewed from an incorrect perspective,resulting in a distorted image that appears in an undesirable orunrealistic manner.

Additionally, it is desirable to provide eye-catching and entertaininginformation and imagery along well-traveled spaced that are oftendefined by walls. In the past, standard printed signage has been usedand is ubiquitous and always present such that it is often ignored orconsidered non-entertaining or attention grabbing by viewers. Anotheroption tried by many facility operators is to add a monitor on the wallto add some dynamic elements, but the use of monitors has also recentlybecome ubiquitous as everyone now seems to have too many screens intheir daily lives. It may be desirable to use 3D animated characters tograb viewers' attention, but 3D televisions often cannot presently beused as the 3D imagery they produce can be difficult to see in morebrightly lit spaces, such as in restaurants or near outdoor waitingareas often found in amusement parks and near other attractions, or theproduced imagery does not seem to realistically “pop up (or out)” toviewers. Further, there are many applications where it is desirable toprovide holographic game displays as often are provided in live actionand animated movies. Conventional, 3D televisions are generally notuseful in providing a tabletop or other holographic game display thatcan be viewed from two-to-four sides to provide interaction with a 3Dfloating or holographic-type image.

Hence, there remains a need for a new design for 3D display systemsincluding those that utilize autostereoscopic displays or displaydevices. In some cases, it is preferable that the produced 3D imagery isviewable even in an outdoor environment and/or to “pop up” to viewersfrom walls and other surfaces an area and, in some instances, to occupythe same space as the viewers and interact with them. Preferably, insome embodiments, this new design will allow a viewer or user of thedisplay to move freely around the entire periphery of the display toprovide a 360-degree display.

SUMMARY

A system for displaying three dimensional (3D) floating or hologramimages to viewers. In brief, the system includes a 3D display operatingin a first state to display a 3D image by outputting light into aviewing space and operating in a second state in which the 3D image isnot displayed (e.g., no or minimal light is output in the second or“effect off” state). The system further includes a screen elementpositioned between the 3D display and the viewing space. The screenelement is designed or configured to reflect light from the viewingspace so as to appear opaque to a viewer in the viewing space when the3D display operates in the second state. Further, the screen element isdesigned or configured to transmit at least a portion of the lightoutput by the 3D display when the 3D display operates in the firststate, whereby the 3D display image is perceivable by the viewer in theviewing space at a distance apart from the screen element.

In some preferred embodiments, the screen element includes a sheet (orlayer) of mesh or netting material, and the sheet of mesh or wovennetting material transmits the at least a portion of the light output bythe 3D display through pores or openings in the mesh or nettingmaterial. In some cases, the sheet of mesh or netting material is aplanar sheet of scrim or tulle (e.g., a digitally printed scrim or thelike). The screen element may further include a panel or pane of rigidtransparent material (such as glass), and the sheet of mesh or wovennetting material is mated to a surface of the panel or pane oftransparent material (e.g., to an inner surface so as to be protectedfrom damage and hidden from ready discovery by viewers).

In some system implementations, the 3D display is a stereoscopic devicesuch as an autostereoscopic display device. In some particularimplementations, an autostereoscopic display device in the form of a 3Dtelevision is used such as a lenticular-based television, and a displayscreen of the 3D television is positioned to be facing the screenelement. The 3D display may then further include a controller and amedia server, with the controller operating the media server to servemedia to the 3D television during the first operating state and with themedia including a colored 3D component and a black background in areasunused by the colored 3D component.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a functional block diagram of a display system of thepresent description;

FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate an autostereoscopic 3D display-based displaysystem of the present description during operating (3D image displaying)mode and non-operating (or “off”) mode, respectively;

FIG. 3 illustrates a side sectional view of a scrim wall panel that maybe used in the display system of FIGS. 2A and 2B;

FIG. 4 illustrates a top, side perspective view of a display system ofthe present description implementing a 3D display using four quartersphere reflectors along with a screen element;

FIG. 5 is a side view of the display system of FIG. 4 showingarrangement of the quarter sphere reflectors each paired with a 2Ddisplay device;

FIG. 6 is a partial top view of the display system of FIGS. 4 and 5showing further details of the arrangement of the four quarter spherereflectors in the 3D display;

FIG. 7 illustrates a side perspective of a single quarter spherereflector as may be used in the systems of FIGS. 4-6;

FIG. 8 is a top view of a single reflector-2D display pair of a 3Ddisplay that may be used in the display systems of FIGS. 4-6;

FIG. 9 is a top perspective view of a display system similar to that ofFIG. 4 that further includes a set of direction micro louvers eachpositioned over one of the quarter sphere reflectors to control when itsreflections are viewable by viewers; and

FIG. 10 is a side view of another implementation of a tabletop displaysystem of the present description with the supporting or table enclosureshown transparent to provide additional details of components of a 3Ddisplay and a screen element in the display system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Briefly, a display system is described that is particularly useful indisplaying 3D floating or holographic images that may be viewed by andinteracted with by viewers even in more brightly illuminated settings.For example, the display system may be configured to provide a wallpanel-type display in which a 3D image seems to “pop” out of into theviewer's nearby space. In another example, the display system isconfigured to provide a touchable holographic display such as a tabletoptype display that provides a floating 3D image that is viewable from 360degrees as the viewer moves about the periphery of the tabletop display.

Generally, the display system includes a stereoscopic or 3D display thatis positioned behind a screen element. The 3D display, in someembodiments, is an autostereoscopic display such that the viewer doesnot need to wear special 3D glasses or eyewear as the displayed 3D imageis made up of switching left and right eye images delivered to theviewer's left and right eyes. The screen element is chosen to appear tothe viewer to be opaque when the 3D display is not displaying the 3Dimage (e.g., is reflective of ambient light from its front or outersurface facing the viewer/viewing space) but allow viewing the 3D imagewhen its is displayed by the 3D display (e.g., is transmissive to lightfrom the 3D display). To this end, the screen element may include asheet of mesh fabric or loosely woven netting such as a sheet oftheatrical scrim, tulle, or the like. In this manner, the 3D display ishidden from view when not operating to provide the 3D imagery and alsois at least partially hidden from view when it is operating to providethe 3D imagery with the light associated with the 3D imagery (i.e., leftand right eye images) passing through the screen element to form aviewable/viewed 3D image that appears to the viewer to float somedistance apart from the front or outer surface of the screen element.

In one wall panel-type embodiment, a display system is provided in whichthe screen element is formed of a printed chiffon scrim panel that islaminated (or otherwise mated with or attached to) to a surface/side(e.g., the back or inner surface/side to protect the scrim material fromdamage) of a layer or pane of transparent material (e.g., a plastic,glass, or the like). The 3D display is positioned behind the screenelement and may take a variety of forms with one preferred embodimentusing an autostereoscopic display such as, but not limited to, anautostereoscopic lenticular display or 3D television.

The 3D imagery on the autostereoscopic lenticular display is createdspecifically for use with the particular screen element or for thisparticular illusion. For example, the 3D media created has in each frame(e.g., each displayed left eye and right eye frame or image) has a dark(e.g., a dark color such as black) background and a bright 3D component(e.g., a full color object) that is viewed as the “floating element.”Because the portions of the lenticular display or 3D televisionscreen/monitor that are not used to display the 3D image provide a black(or other dark color) background, these background or unused areas dinot shine through the screen element. Only the bright or colorfulportions associated with the displayed 3D image shine through the screenelement. This allows the display or television screen to be hidden or atleast disguised from view behind the screen element (e.g., behind thescrim or other mesh/netting material).

In use, the screen element (or scrim in many cases) can have its frontor outer surface digitally printed such that it blends into adjacentwall/panel surfaces to look like a ubiquitous wall with texture when the3D display is not in display operations/mode but yet have 3D imagery (ormedia) displayed on the display screen of lenticular display or 3Dtelevision (positioned behind the screen element and facing its back orinner surface) “float” some distance from the front or outer surface ofthe screen element (e.g., out into the viewing space adjacent thewall/panel in which the screen element is integrated). Because many 3Ddisplays can be made to be high brightness or to be sunlight visible,the 3D effect created by the new display system can even shine throughthe screen element in an outdoor or other brightly illuminatedenvironment.

The new display system can be formed to have a small footprint (e.g., alarge depth is not required so can fit into most conventional walls) andcan be fabricated at a relatively low cost due to the use ofcommercially available subcomponents. The display system can very simplybe scaled from small to large. For example, a wall scrim panel on glassor plastic is a low cost item to create, and then putting a 32-inch to100-inch or larger autostereoscopic display behind the wall scrim panelallows easy fabrication of the new display system. Another usefulfeature of this embodiment of the display system is its low facilityimpact as it can be installed in very cramped wall space such as withonly a few inches of depth needed. Once installed, it appears to theobserver as a standard wall until the 3D display system (or the effect)is turned on.

In another implementation of the display system, a touchable holographicdisplay is provided that is 360-degree playable by viewers. The displaysystem can be scaled from very large down to being small enough to beprovided as a toy or other consumer product (e.g., a desktop display, ahandheld device, or the like). The display system creates an illusion ofa four-sided or single-sided hologram, which a viewer can view close upor at a distance and even put their hand through the floating image orhologram.

In brief, the display system uses four high brightness liquid crystaldisplays (LCDs) in its 3D display, and each LCD is paired with a quartersphere reflector (e.g., a black plastic (or other material) reflector).Each LCD outputs a two-dimensional (2D) image that appears to be 3D whenit is reflected off the quarter sphere reflector, and the fourreflectors are arranged at angular offsets (e.g., 90 degrees when fourreflectors are used), with their back/outer surfaces facing each otherand a center of the 3D display. A screen element (e.g., a scrimlaminated onto a transparent panel) is placed over the four reflectorssuch that light from the LCDs is concurrently reflected through thescrim (and allowing the 3D display to be hidden by the “opaque” screenelement when not operated to display images). The LCD light would bereflected up in a tabletop-type arrangement, and, when a viewer looks atthe tabletop surface provided by the screen element, the display systemgives the illusion a still or (more typically) video image is floatingabove it some distance.

This embodiment of the display system is also extremely scalable due toits design. The reflector may be thought of as performing much of themagic of the illusion and can be formed out of inexpensive black plastic(e.g., clear plastic painted black, black plastic that is formed into aquarter sphere, or the like). The reflector may be formed in many sizes(e.g., from a sphere of a wide range of inner diameters. In someembodiments, a micro louver sheet is disposed between the reflectors andthe screen element so that the display system was four-sided and couldbe “played” in the round (or 360 degrees) by the viewer. The microlouver allows the viewer to look down (in a tabletop arrangement)through the screen element into one of the four reflectors without thepresence of the other reflectors and their paired 2D display being givenaway/being visible to the viewer (e.g., micro louver blocks view of 2Ddisplay located directly across from the viewer as they view lightreflected from the proximate reflector in the 3D display). The low costof the each of the subcomponents of the display system makes the displaysystem attractive over many other techniques of creating a holographicor 3D effect as these often require very expensive optical elements tobe effective.

FIG. 1 illustrates a functional block diagram of a display system 100 ofthe present description that can be used to implement the two designsdescribed above. The system 100 includes a viewing space 104 in whichone or more viewers such as viewer 106 may be located and be provided,by operation of the system 100, a 3D illusion or effect. To this end,the system 100 includes a 3D display 110 (e.g., a stereoscopic device,an autostereoscopic device such as a 3D television, an assembly of 2Ddisplays each paired with quarter sphere reflectors, or the like) thatis operable to provide or display a displayed 3D image 112 (e.g., ananimated 3D video or the like).

The system 100 further includes a screen element 120 disposed betweenthe 3D display 110 (e.g., sized to fully cover the 3D display 110 or atleast its output portion) and the viewing space 104 and viewer 106. Thescreen element 120 may include a sheet or panel of mesh fabric or wovennetting so that it appears opaque to the viewer 106 when the 3D displayis “off” or not outputting the displayed 3D image 112, e.g., an outer orfront surface 124 of the screen element 120 is reflective of ambientlight in the viewing space 104. Further, the screen element 120 is atleast partially transmissive of light 114 associated with the displayed3D image 114 such that a portion 126 of this light 114 striking theinner or back surface 122 of the screen element 120 passes through thescreen element 120 to be received by the viewer's right and left eyes108, 109 (which are not covered with 3D eyewear/glasses in this examplein which the 3D display 110 may be an autostereoscopic device but otherembodiments of system 100 may use a stereoscopic device and the viewer106 would then wear eyewear suited for the 3D display 110).

As shown, the light 126 reaching the eyes 108, 109 of the viewer 106causes them to perceive a viewed 3D or floating image 128 in the viewingspace 104 apparently some distance from the outer or front surface 124of the screen element 120. The image 128 may be a still image or asshown with arrows 129 may be an animated image 128 (e.g., the display 3Dimage may be a 3D video made up of switching left and right eye imagesassociated with many frames of 3D media). The inner or back surface 122may be spaced apart a distance, d, from a top or display surface (e.g.,a display screen of a 3D television, a plane extending through upperedges of a set of quarter sphere reflectors, and the like) of the 3Ddisplay 110 such as in the range of 0 to 12 inches or more to achieve adesired 3D illusion/effect with the system 100.

In some embodiments, a wall (or table top or horizontal upper surface)is also included in the system 100, and the screen element 120 may bejoined to or supported by the wall (or table top) to have its outersurface coplanar with the wall (or table top). Further, the screenelement 120 may include a scrim (e.g., a theatrical chiffon scrim (e.g.,Rose Brand® scrim or the like) or other mesh/netting fabric (such astulle) that can be have its outer surface digitally or otherwise printedto match or blend with the outer surface of the nearby wall (or tabletop) so that it may be wholly or nearly unnoticeable by the viewer 106in the viewing space 104.

The system 100 is also shown to include a controller 130 that isoperable to provide control signals (and/or power) 132 to a media server140. The server 140 is included in the system 100 to selectively providemedia streams as shown at 141 to the 3D display 110 to operate or enableit to provide the displayed 3D image 112. Particularly, the server 140is shown to include memory 142 for storing 3D media 150 for use in thestereoscopic (which includes autostereoscopic) embodiments of the 3Ddisplay 110 and for storing 2D media 160 for use in the quarter spherereflector embodiments of the 3D display 110.

With a stereoscopic 3D display 110, the media server 140 is operated bythe controller 130 to provide 3D media 150 to the 3D display 110 (asshown with arrow 141 providing a wired or wireless connection). The 3Dmedia 150 includes left (and alternating right) eye images (or frames)152. Each of these is specially configured for better hiding the 3Ddisplay 110 behind the screen element 120 by including a dark background154 that may be all colored black that is associated with unusedportions of the display 110 (e.g., of a display screen of a 3Dtelevision). Further, each image 152 typically includes a 3D component156 that is provided with full color (e.g., any color other than blackbut often brighter colors for a cleaner or pop-producing 3D image 128).In this way, the background or black portions of the displayed 3D image112 are not readily viewable or perceivable by the viewer 106 as part ofthe viewed 3D image 128, which hides the presence of the 3D display 110(by avoiding having the 3D component at the outer edges of its displayscreen/monitor for example) behind the reflective surface 124 of thescreen element 120.

With a quarter sphere reflector 3D display 110, the media server 140 isoperated by the controller 130 to provide 2D media 160 to the 3D display110 as shown with arrow 141. The 2D media 160 includes media that isunique to each of the 2D displays (e.g., LCDs or the like) depending onwhich quarter sphere reflector they are paired with in the 3D display110. In this way, a differing view of a “3D” or floating hologram image128 is visible through the screen element 120 via each of the reflectorsat a different viewing position relative to the 3D display such as froma side of rectangular table top-type display (with screen element 120provided as or near the upper surface of the table top) or in 90-degreeviewing windows about the periphery of the 3D display 110 in the viewingspace 104 as the viewer 106 moves around the 3D display 110. In thisregard, the 2D media 160 includes a plurality of frames or images from afirst angularly offset viewing position 162 as well as from each otherviewing position as shown at 164 (with “N” being the number of viewingpositions from 1 to 4 (or more), with an embodiment discussed belowincluding four reflectors each paired with a dedicated 2D displayplaying media 162, 164 designed for this reflector/2D displaycombination (e.g., to display a side for viewed 3D image 128 to viewer106)).

FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate an autostereoscopic 3D display-based displaysystem 200 of the present description during operating (3D imagedisplaying) mode and non-operating (or “off”) mode, respectively. Thesystem 200 provides one useful implementation of the system 100 of FIG.1 in which the 3D display 110 is provided in the form of anautostereoscopic display 210 such as a 3D television (with one prototypeusing a 3D television including lenticular lenses on its displayscreen/surface 212 and using media in the form of interlaced content(e.g., with 4 to 9 or more views provided by shooting an animatedimage/scene from 4 to 9 differing views) to provide the blackbackground/unused areas and full color 3D components as discussed withreference to FIG. 1). The autostereoscopic display 210 includes adisplay surface 212 that as shown in FIG. 2A is operated toprovide/display a displayed 3D image, which may take the form of a blackbackground (or unused) portion combined with a full color (or bright) 3Dcomponent. The system 200 further includes a screen element in the formof a scrim panel wall 220 with an inner or back surface 222 facing thedisplay screen 212 of the autostereoscopic display 210 and spaced apartfrom (and typically parallel with) the display screen 212 by a distance,d (e.g., in the range of 0 to 12 inches or more).

During the operating or image display mode of FIG. 2A, the display 210produces light 214, 215 associated with the displayed 3D image andproviding right and left eye images that are received by a right eye 208and left eye 209, respectively, of a viewer 206 in a viewing space 204.The scrim panel wall 220 has an outer or front surface 224 facing awayfrom the display 210 and toward the viewing space 204. The scrim panelwall 220 includes a scrim that may be a chiffon scrim (e.g., a scrimdistributed under Rose Brand® or the like), and this scrim may have itsouter surface 224 digitally printed to have a texture, pattern, and/orcolor matching or suited to adjacent surfaces such as of surfaces of awall upon which the scrim panel wall 220 is mounted. In some cases, thescrim panel wall 220 includes a transparent pane (e.g., a plastic,glass, or other transparent material sheet) and the chiffon scrim islaminated or otherwise attached onto an inner (or outer) surface of thistransparent pane. The scrim panel wall 220 typically is planar andarranged to be parallel to the display screen 212.

The chiffon scrim (e.g., scrim used in theatrical settings, bus wrapmaterial, other mesh or woven netting fabric sheet or layer, tulle, orthe like) is chosen to transmit a relatively large fraction (e.g., 30 to70 percent) of the light 214, 215 output from the display screen 212that strikes the back or inner surface 222 so that it is passed throughthe panel 220 into the viewing space 204 to allow the viewer 206 toperceive a floating 3D image 250 (e.g., a 3D video image made up of leftand right eye images). The floating 3D image 250 appears to be locatedsome distance from the outer or front surface 224 of the scrim panelwall 220, and it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art thatthe inclusion of the scrim of the scrim panel wall/screen element 220adds depth as it hides the display screen 212 while providing areference surface 224 that assists the viewer 206 in processing theright and left eye images/light 214, 215 reaching their right and lefteyes 208, 209 into a realistic and sharp 3D image 250. Theautostereoscopic display 210 may be chosen to be bright enough to bedaylight visible and to provide a black screen in areas/pixels not usedto display the 3D component. Holes in the scrim give a straight shot forlight from the display screen 212 (or light emanating from itslenticules or the like)

In FIG. 2B, a controller (not shown but found in display system 100 ofFIG. 1) turns the display 210 “off” or halts its display of 3D media ondisplay screen 212. During this non-displaying or off mode, the scrimpanel wall 220 acts to disguise or hide the presence of the displayscreen 212 behind it to the viewer 206. Particularly, the scrim panelwall 220 (or its scrim sheet) acts to reflect ambient light 262 from oneor more light sources 250 (e.g., the Sun if space 204 is outdoors,lighting in space 204, and so on) that strike the outer or front surface224. The reflected light 263 reaches the viewer's eyes 208, 209 causingthe viewer 206 to wholly or mainly perceive the surface 224 as beingopaque, which blocks edges 213 (shown dashed to be hidden from view) ofthe display screen 213, and the effect can be enhanced by limiting oreliminating light sources behind the scrim panel wall 220 (or limitingthe amount of light 262 directed toward the surface 212 through thescrim panel wall 220 to avoid/limit reflections from the surface 212).

FIG. 3 illustrates a side sectional view of a scrim wall panel 320 thatmay be used in the system 200 of FIGS. 2A and 2B. As shown, the panel320 includes a screen element in the form of a scrim (or other mesh ornetting material) sheet or layer 322 with an inner or back surface 324and an outer or front surface 326. In use, the inner surface 324 wouldbe positioned to face a 3D display while the outer surface 324 would bepositioned to face outward toward a viewing space. The scrim sheet orlayer 322 is attached (e.g., laminated) to an inner surface of apane/sheet 330 of transparent (which mean at least translucent to highlytransparent to light) material such as a glass, plastic, or the like.The scrim 322 and pane/sheet 330 are disposed between (or within)sections 340 of a wall or panel, which often will be structural innature and be opaque to light and which will physical support the scrim322 and pane/sheet 330 (or screen element). The outer surface 326 of thescrim 322 may be digitally printed to have a pattern or color similar tothat of the nearby surfaces of the wall/panel sections 340.

In another implementation, a display system is configured as a touchableholographic display that is 360-degree playable by viewers, and theseimplementations of display systems may be configured as a tabletopdisplays in some cases. These display systems differ from those of FIGS.1-3 in their use of a different embodiment of a 3D display to provide afloating or holographic image above (or spaced apart from) the screenelement (which, again, utilize a mesh fabric or woven netting sheet suchas a scrim).

FIG. 4 illustrates a top, side perspective view of a holographictabletop display system 400 that implements the concepts describedherein. Particularly, the system 400 includes a tabletop support orenclosure 410 that, in this non-limiting example, takes the form of afuturistic control or communications panel. The support/enclosure 410 isconfigured and used to physically support and house a 3D display 420 inan interior and, here, lower space. Further, the support/enclosure 410physically supports a screen element 430 that is positioned to cover the3D display 420 and to be disposed between the 3D display 420 and theexterior of the enclosure/support 410, i.e., the viewing space for thesystem 400. The enclosure/support 410 includes a viewing window orportal 414 into its interior space where the 3D display 420 ispositioned, and the screen element 430 is positioned within the viewingwindow or portal 414, with its planar components orthogonal to thecentral axis of the viewing window or portal 414 and the 3D display 420.

As in other embodiments, the screen element 430 may take the form of asheet of mesh or woven netting material such as a scrim, tulle, or thelike that is attached to (e.g., laminated to) a surface (e.g., the innersurface for protection from damage from touching and to hide itspresence in the system 400) of a transparent panel/pane (e.g., a glass,plastic, or other material sheet). The screen element 430, thus, appearsopaque when the 3D display 420 is not operating to display a floatingimage or hologram or is not outputting light from the interior space ofthe enclosure/support 410, but the screen element 430 with itspores/holes provides a direct path for a large percentage of the lightoutput by the 3D display 420 when the effect is turned on or when itoutputs light to display a floating image or hologram. The screenelement 430 (i.e., its sheet of scrim or the like) also acts, asdiscussed above, to provide a reference plane for a viewer's eyes toprocess the imagery and to locate the imagery relative and spaced apartfrom the screen element 430 (rather than from the 3D displaycomponents). As shown, the scrim or other mesh/netting material layer orsheet of the screen element 430 may have a pattern, which may bedigitally printed or otherwise formed, that can be chosen to suit theenclosure/support 410 or nearby surfaces and acts to further disguisethe presence of the 3D display 420 behind or underneath the screenelement 430.

The 3D display 420 is shown partially in FIG. 4 with the enclosure wallsbeing semitransparent for illustration purposes only as these wouldtypically be opaque in practice to hide the components of the 3D display420. As can be seen, though, the 3D display 420 makes use of one or morequarter sphere reflectors that would each be paired with a 2D display(not shown in FIG. 4) to reflect light from the display screen of the 2Ddisplay up (or outward) through the screen element 430. In this example,the 3D display 420 includes four quarter sphere reflectors 422, 424,426, and 428 arranged with their reflective inner surfaces facingoutward away from a central axis of the 3D display 420 and the screenelement 430. Each of the reflectors 422, 424, 426, 428 may be thought ofas being arranged at 90-degree offsets from each other or neighboringones of the reflectors 422, 424, 426, 428 about the central axis, andthis creates 90-degree viewing angles or stations in the viewing spaceabout the periphery of the enclosure/support 410 so viewers can moveabout the entire periphery of the enclosure/support 410 and perceive a360-degree floating image or hologram.

FIG. 5 provides a side view of the display system 400 showing furtherdetail of its components. From FIG. 5, the arrangement of the reflectors422, 424, and 428 can be better appreciated. With reference to reflector424, the components of each reflector can be understood. Particularly,the reflector 424 is quarter spherical in shape with a back side orsurface 525 (non-reflecting surface) facing inward toward the centralaxis of the 3D display 420. The reflector 424 is open with an uppersemi-circular edge 527 facing upward (or out of the 3D display 420) andin a plane parallel to the screen element 430. The reflector 424 alsoincludes a front semi-circular edge 529 that is in a plane orthogonal tothe screen element 430.

Significantly, the 3D display 420 further includes for each reflector422-428 a 2D display device such as an LCD device that is operable tooutput light during its display operations that is directed toward theinner reflective surfaces of the reflector 422-428 to be reflected up orout through the screen element 430. This can be seen with exemplary 2Ddisplays 530 and 532 paired, respectively, with reflectors 424 and 428.The display screens 531 and 533 of the 2D displays 530 and 532 face thisinner reflective surface of the reflectors 424 and 428 with the displayscreens 531 and 533 each spaced apart a distance, d₂, from the frontedge (e.g., edge 529 of reflector 424) that may range from about 1 to 12inches or more (with a range of 3 to 6 inches working well for a 24-inchdiameter reflector and no separation not being effective) to achieve adesired focal point for a displayed floating or hologram image above thescreen element 430. The display screen 531 may be arranged to beparallel to the plane containing the front edge 529 or, more preferably,will be rotated away from the reflector 424 some angle greater than 90degrees such as 95 to 105 degrees (or more) as 90 degrees (or parallelto the front edge 529) may not be effective in achieving a desiredfloating effect with many quarter sphere reflectors.

As shown in FIG. 5, the screen element 430 includes a layer or sheet ofmesh fabric or woven netting 550 such as a scrim that is laminated to orotherwise joined with a transparent pane or panel 560. The screenelement 430 may be arranged such that the layer/sheet (e.g., scrim) 550is positioned proximate to or abutting the upper edges (such as edge527) of the reflectors 422-428 with an inner or back surface 551 facingthe 3D display 420 and an outer or front surface 552, which may bedigitally printed or otherwise fabricated to have a desired color and/orpattern, facing away from the 3D display 420 (or toward the viewingspace). In the illustrated arrangement, the transparent pane or panel560 includes an inner or back surface 561 facing the 3D display 420 uponwhich the scrim 550 is attached and an outer or front surface 562 facingthe viewing space or away from the 3D display 420. The scrim 550 may beabutting the upper edges (such as edge 527) of the reflectors 422-428 orin some embodiments be spaced apart a distance (d in FIG. 1) from thesereflectors 422-428 to position the visual reference plane provided bythe scrim 550 some distance apart from the upper edges of the reflectors422-428 to achieve a desired effect.

The specific dimensions of the 3D display 420 and its components and thescreen element 430 (which is sized to cover completely the outputportions of the 3D display 420) may vary from very small for a toy orhandheld version of the system 400 to very large for a tabletop displaydevice suited for a large viewing space. In one tabletop display device,the system 400 was constructed with 24-inch diameter quarter spherereflectors 422-428 and had the dimensions shown in FIG. 5 of L₁=64inches, L₂=100 inches, H₁=36 inches, and H₂=12 inches. Of course, otherdimensions may be useful with different sizes of reflectors and withdiffering numbers of reflectors (such as in embodiments that use lessthan 4 reflectors such as 1, 2, or 3 reflectors with a 90-degree,180-degree, and 270-degree viewing angle rather than a 360-degreeplayable hologram as with system 400).

FIG. 6 illustrates a partial top view of the system 400 showing thearrangement of the four quarter sphere reflectors 422, 424, 426, 428relative to each other and to the center or central axis of the 3Ddisplay 420. From this top view, the four reflectors 422-428 can be seento be arranged or nested within a circle defined by the outer edge ofthe screen element 430 having a center at the center axis shown withtheir front edge (such as front edge 529 of reflector 424) facingoutward toward the circumference of this circle and a 2D display (notshown) positioned outside the circle. Each reflector has a diameter,Diam_(Reflector), and the 2D display will be sized typically to have awidth and a height that are both less than this diameter,Diam_(Reflector). The diameter, Diam_(Screen Element), can vary topractice the display system 400 but with 24-inch diameter reflectors is63.39 inches in one prototype with the reflectors 422-428 arrangedsymmetrically about the center axis, with their top or upper edges in asingle plane, and with their back surfaces/sides (as seen with surface525 of reflector 424) facing the center axis of the 3D display 420.Further, the top or upper edges of the reflectors may optionally beplaced in abutting contact with at one point with each of theneighboring pair of the reflectors 422-428 (e.g., reflector 424, asshown in FIG. 6, abuts both reflector 422 and 428 with its upper edge527 contacting their upper edges).

As shown, the reflective inner surface or side of each of the fourquarter spherical reflectors 422-428 faces up (or out) of the 3D displaysuch that they are visible through the upper surface 562 of thetransparent pane/panel of the screen element 430. For example, thereflective inner surface 624 of the reflector 424 is fully exposed toand facing the screen element 430 such that a viewer looking down intothe display system or observing the system while walking around itsperiphery would observe light reflected from the surface 624 after itpasses through the screen element 430. Typically, the light from a 2Ddisplay would be reflected generally orthogonally to the screen element430 by the reflective inner surface 624.

FIG. 7 illustrates one of the reflectors 424 in isolation. The reflector424 can be seen to be a quarter of a hollow sphere formed from a thinlayer of a rigid material such as a plastic, a glass, a ceramic, or thelike. The reflector 424 includes a back surface or side 525 and isdefined by an upper (or outer) edge 527 and a front (or side) edge 529.These features define an inner reflective surface 624 that has a quartersphere (or quarter spherical) shape. This surface 624 is reflective,which can be achieved through the selection of the material such as byusing a black plastic and/or through treatment of the surface 624 orsurface 525 such as by painting either of these surfaces 525, 624 withblack or other color paint (or finishing materials). In someembodiments, a mirror-type material is applied to one of these twosurfaces, but the inventors determined that use of a black material orblack surface often works better than a mirrored one in providing thequarter sphere reflectors 422-428.

FIG. 8 illustrates a quarter sphere reflector 810 paired with a 2Ddisplay device 820 (such as an LCD device or the like). The reflector810 includes a front edge 812, a back surface or side 814, a top edge816, and an inner reflective surface 818. The display screen 822 of the2D display device 820 is spaced apart a distance (d2 from prior figures)from the front edge 812 of the reflector 810 and is selectively operatedas shown to display a 2D image such that light 823 from the displayscreen 822 is directed into the reflector 810 and onto reflectivesurface 818. As discussed above, each 2D display 820 is controlled todisplay 2D media that presents a different side or view of the viewed 3Dor floating image and when combined—such as in FIGS. 4-6—four (or asmany 2D display-reflector pairs as included) sides or view points of animage can be provided (e.g., opposite 2D display-reflector pairs in a 3Ddisplay would show opposite sides of the displayed image such as thefront and back of a character's image or the like) which may be taken bya camera positioned at 90-degree offsets.

Testing by the inventors has shown that the resulting floating image isnot typically provided by or matching the surface area of the reflectivesurface 818 but is, instead, a smaller subset as shown with image area830. The image area 830 is generally rectangular in shape with asemispherical portion adjacent the most inner portion of the reflectivesurface 818. The image area 830 has a depth, D, and a width, W, thatwill vary with the size of the dome/reflector quarter sphere reflector810 assuming a 2D display with a screen larger than the image area 830.Testing and analysis has shown the following: (1) a 24-inch diameterhemisphere/dome produces an image area with D=9 inches and W=14 inches;(2) a 32-inch diameter hemisphere/dome produces an image area with D=12inches and W=18.67 inches; (3) a 36-inch diameter hemisphere/domeproduces an image area with D=13.5 inches and W=21 inches; and (4) a48-inch diameter hemisphere/dome produces an image area with D=18 inchesand W=28 inches. With this size and location in mind for the image area,the scrim can be printed to enhance the resulting floating image such asby being printed with bright colors where the effect takes place (i.e.,where the 3D component in the media provided to the 2D display isprovided within the image area 830). Visual cues can be printed orotherwise provided on the scrim to draw the viewer's eyes to thefloating image/hologram.

FIG. 9 illustrates the display system 400 of FIG. 4 with a modificationto include four micro louver elements 990, which are formed ofdirectional micro louver material (e.g., privacy screen materialproduced by 3M or the like). These are shaped and sized to match theimage areas 830 shown in FIG. 8 for a particular reflector, and eachmicro louver element 990 is positioned above one of the reflectors422-428 where the reflected light from the 2D display would pass throughthe screen element 430. Each micro louver element 990 is configured toallow the light from the reflector 422-428 it is associated with to beviewed across a 90-degree viewing window while not seeing light from theother three reflectors (with the center of this 90-degree viewing windowextending orthogonally outward from the front edge of the particularreflector 422, 424, 426, or 428).

FIG. 10 illustrates a display system 1000 with a tabletop support orenclosure 1020 shown to be transparent to allow viewing of thecomponents of the system 1000. The system 1000 includes a viewing space1004 about the support/enclosure 1020 in which a viewer 1006 is locatedand is perceiving a touchable, floating video image 1010 with their eyes1008 (but without the need for special eyewear). To this end, a 3Ddisplay 1030 is provided in the interior space of the support/enclosure1020 that includes four quarter sphere reflectors 1032, which may bearranged and configured as discussed above.

Further, the 3D display 1030 includes a like number of high bright LCDdisplays (or other 2D displays) 1034 that are each paired with one ofthe reflectors 1032 and, typically, with their display screens spacedapart a distance, d₂, from a front edge of the paired reflector 1032 androtated at an angle of 91 to 105 or more degrees (from the planecontaining the front edge of the nearby reflector so not parallel tothis spaced apart plane)). High brightness displays 1034 may bedesirable because of light losses in the display system 1000. First, thereflectors 1032 may utilized black-painted surfaces or black-coloredmaterials rather than mirrored surfaces that can result in some lightloss during reflection. Second, the use of the louvers 1040 and scrim orother material in the screen element 1050 can further cause light loss.Hence, this loss of brightness in the image 1010 may make it desirableto use a higher brightness 2D display for displays 1034, and, in oneprototype, the inventors utilized specially-made 3000 Nit, HDresolution, 24-inch LCDs for displays 1034.

Over each reflector 1032 is provided a directional micro louver 1040configured to allow a viewer 1006 facing one of the reflectors 1032 (orwithin the 90-degree viewing window discussed above) to view the image1010 produced by that reflector 1032 while not being able to discernlight from other reflectors 1032. The micro louvers 1040 may be planarand placed on or adjacent and parallel to the upper or top edges of thereflectors 1032 (or to a plane containing the upper or top edges) so asto be sandwiched between the reflectors 1032 and the screen element1050.

The screen element 1050 may take the form of a printed scrim with adesigned pattern and colors as discussed above that is applied to aninner (or outer) surface of a pane or sheet oftranslucent-to-transparent (with more or “fully” transparent preferred)material such as a sheet of glass or plastic. The screen element 1050 isgenerally sized and shaped to be able to wholly cover the reflectiveinner surfaces of the reflectors 1032 and may have nearly any shape suchas circular or rectangular. The scrim panel 1050 may be placed incontact with the four micro louvers 1040 or may be spaced apart somedistance to achieve a desired location for the scrim (or other mesh orwoven netting material) relative to the reflectors 1032.

Although the invention has been described and illustrated with a certaindegree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosurehas been made only by way of example, and that numerous changes in thecombination and arrangement of parts can be resorted to by those skilledin the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention,as hereinafter claimed.

For instance, the above description includes implementations in whichthe screen element includes a sheet of mesh or netting material, and thesheet of mesh or woven netting material transmits a portion of the lightoutput by a 3D display (e.g., a lenticular-based device, a 3D LCD, andthe like) through pores or openings in the mesh or netting material. Inspecific cases, the sheet of mesh or netting material was provided witha sheet of scrim or tulle, which may optionally be arranged to beparallel to the display's output screen. This sheet may be a “chiffon”configured to provide a high-resolution printable scrim surface, andthis printable scrim surface may have great front opacity (when notbacklit reflecting ambient light striking its front/exterior printedsurface) while providing backlit transparency (when backlit by lightfrom the 3D display, for example). This is useful for both close upmagical display effects as well as large scale, distance-basedillusions. The screen element, including the chiffon implementations,may be laminated or adhered to glass or plastic substrates to make it ahard and rigid (often planar or curved) surfaces.

We claim:
 1. A system for displaying three dimensional (3D) floatingimages to viewers, comprising: a 3D display operating in a first stateto display a 3D image by outputting light into a viewing space andoperating in a second state in which the 3D image is not displayed; anda screen element positioned between the 3D display and the viewingspace, wherein the screen element reflects light from the viewing spaceto appear opaque to a viewer in the viewing space when the 3D displayoperates in the second state, and wherein the screen element transmitsat least a portion of the light output by the 3D display when the 3Ddisplay operates in the first state, whereby the 3D image is perceivableby the viewer in the viewing space at a distance apart from the screenelement.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the screen element comprisesa sheet of mesh or netting material and wherein the sheet of mesh orwoven netting material transmits the at least a portion of the lightoutput by the 3D display through pores or openings in the mesh ornetting material.
 3. The system of claim 2, wherein the sheet of mesh ornetting material comprises a planar sheet of scrim, tulle, or chiffon.4. The system of claim 2, wherein the screen element further comprises apanel or pane of transparent material and wherein the sheet of mesh orwoven netting material is mated to a surface of the panel or pane oftransparent material.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein the 3D displaycomprises an autostereoscopic display device.
 6. The system of claim 5,wherein the autostereoscopic display device comprises a 3D televisionwith a display screen facing the screen element.
 7. The system of claim6, wherein the 3D display further comprises a controller and a mediaserver, wherein the controller operates the media server to serve mediato the 3D television during the first operating state, and wherein themedia comprises a colored 3D component and a black background in areasunused by the colored 3D component.
 8. A system for displaying threedimensional (3D) floating images to viewers, comprising: a stereoscopicdisplay operable to display a 3D image by outputting light; and a screenelement positioned between the stereoscopic display and a viewing space,wherein the screen element reflects light from the viewing space andtransmits at least a portion of the light output by the stereoscopicdisplay, whereby the 3D display image is perceivable by the viewer inthe viewing space at a distance apart from the screen element, andwherein the screen element comprises a layer of mesh or woven nettingmaterial.
 9. The system of claim 8, wherein the layer of mesh or nettingmaterial comprises a layer scrim, tulle, or chiffon material.
 10. Thesystem of claim 9, wherein the screen element further comprises a panelor pane of transparent material and wherein the layer of mesh or wovennetting material is mated to a surface of the panel or pane oftransparent material facing the stereoscopic display.
 11. The system ofclaim 8, wherein the stereoscopic display comprises an autostereoscopicdisplay device.
 12. The system of claim 11, wherein the autostereoscopicdisplay device comprises a 3D television with a display screen facingthe screen element.
 13. The system of claim 12, wherein the displayed 3Dimage comprises media including a colored 3D component and a blackbackground in areas unused by the colored 3D component.
 14. A system fordisplaying three dimensional (3D) floating images to viewers,comprising: a display operating in a first state to display a 3D imageby outputting light into a viewing space and operating in a second statein which the image is not displayed; and a screen element positionedbetween the display and the viewing space, wherein the screen elementreflects light from the viewing space when the display operates in thesecond state, wherein the screen element is at least transmissive to thelight output by the display when the display operates in the firststate, whereby the 3D image is perceivable by the viewer in the viewingspace, and wherein the screen element comprises a sheet of mesh ornetting material.
 15. The system of claim 14, wherein the sheet of meshor woven netting material transmits the at least a portion of the lightoutput by the display through pores or openings in the mesh or nettingmaterial.
 16. The system of claim 15, wherein the sheet of mesh ornetting material comprises a planar sheet of scrim, tulle, or chiffon.17. The system of claim 15, wherein the screen element further comprisesa panel or pane of transparent material and wherein the sheet of mesh orwoven netting material is mated to a surface of the panel or pane oftransparent material.
 18. The system of claim 14, wherein the displaycomprises an autostereoscopic display device.
 19. The system of claim18, wherein the autostereoscopic display device comprises a 3Dtelevision with a display screen facing the screen element.
 20. Thesystem of claim 19, wherein the 3D display further comprises acontroller and a media server, wherein the controller operates the mediaserver to serve media to the 3D television during the first operatingstate, and wherein the media comprises a colored 3D component and ablack background in areas unused by the colored 3D component.